Now that we see the final product of what the Niners gave away and received in the Alex Smith trade from 14 months ago, we can judge one thing about San Francisco GM Trent Baalke: He is calculating, he is fast, and he knows how to set up his team for the future.

The result, first, of the 2013 trade of Smith to Kansas City for a pair of second-round draft picks. The two second-round picks, or their tributaries, were traded a total of five times over the past two drafts, and here’s how it shook out after this year’s draft.

* Lemonier was acquired in part with a tributary pick stemming from the Smith trade, and Johnson was acquired from Buffalo on Friday for a fourth-round conditional pick in 2015. That’s included here because San Francisco obtained a fourth-round pick in 2015 from Denver for the second-round pick that originally belonged to Kansas City—so the two picks, arguably, will end up canceling each other out.
Now the story. In the span of 22 minutes Friday, Baalke consummated three trades. One: He traded the 56th pick in the second round (the second Kansas City second-rounder) to Denver for the 63rdand 171st this year, and the Broncos’ fourth-round pick next year. Two: Baalke traded the 63rd and 171stpicks just acquired from Denver to Miami for the 57th pick in the draft; Baalke got the player he would have picked at 56, Carlos Hyde, at 57 … while adding the fourth-rounder next year that replaced the pick used to get Stevie Johnson. Three: He traded his own second-round pick, 61st overall, to Jacksonville for the 70th and 150th picks.

Baalke explained that he and COO Paraag Marathe work the phone and line up prospective trades, and it was hectic because there were a couple of other teams calling in that 22-minute span trying to get one or more of the Niners’ picks at 56 and 61. “That span you talked about was a little bit of a grind,” Baalke said late Saturday night. “A lot of action, a lot of things to consider. Paraag’s the best in the business at lining things up, and then we make the decision. After we made the trade with Denver, I thought we might be able to get Carlos at 61, but then we called [Miami] at 57 and figured we could use what we got from Denver in this year’s draft and keep next year’s pick and move up to make sure we got him. And it allowed us basically to get our four back, which we used to trade for Stevie.”

This isn’t a case of San Francisco fleecing Denver. But it is an example of Baalke doing the smart thing, and waiting till a needy team is either on the clock or frothing after a certain player. That was Denver with wide receiver Cody Latimer, who the Broncos project to replace Eric Decker right away. If he works out the way John Elway thinks, surrendering the four next year will be nothing.

Time will tell if Baalke made the haul worth it. The five pieces the Smith deal yielded:

Carradine will get on the field healthy for the first time as a Niner this month. He missed all of last season with an ACL tear. He’ll be the third man in the 3-4 defensive end rotation with the aging Justin Smith and Ray McDonald, and move inside on some four-lineman snaps. He’s being groomed to start in the 3-4 scheme when Smith or McDonald are gone.
Lemonierplayed 284 snaps, mostly subbing for the idle Aldon Smith last year, and will be in the outside-linebacker rotation with Michael Wilhoite and Nick Moody, competing for time.
Borlandis an accomplished college player, and produced an amazing 27 turnovers in his Wisconsin career. But he’s only 5-11 ½, and he could be a first-down player only (against the run). “It’ll be interesting to see if his game translates to the NFL,” said defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. However, with NaVorro Bowman expect to be sidelined until at least November rehabbing a sere knee injury, there’s a spot on the Niners’ D at inside ‘backer waiting to be won, and Borland will get a solid crack at it. “I’ve heard people talk about his size, and his short arms,” said Baalke. “But he’s a guy with instincts. All those short did somehow was rack up over 400 tackles in the Big Ten.”
Hyde should be able to make the move from the Big 10 to the NFL much easier. He’s the heir to Frank Gore, a 230-pound bruiser with enough moves to be an every-down back. That is, if Gore ever slows down.
Johnson is still only 27, but he had a down year last year with the Bills. He’s not the speedster the Niners sought this offseason to help de-pressurize Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree, but he should be a good third receiver and an adequate piece to San Francisco’s underachieving receiver group.
I asked Baalke about his feelings on the trade now that the chips are known. “Mixed emotions,’’ he said. “I have so much respect for Alex Smith and his family, and great regard for him as a player. He’s the epitome of a good man and teammate and a good player. I know the Kansas City Chiefs staff, and they are thrilled to have him. We’ll see how it works out for us. It’s still early.”

Would all of these players combined taken us from a laughing stock 2-11 team to a playoff team like Alex did?

To be honest, the defense did most of the heavy lifting for the first 9 wins against a very easy schedule. Heck, I think we won a couple games where AS didn't have a TD pass (not going to look up but think it happened).

It was only after the defense completey shit themselves did the real Chiefs team emerge, a team that closed the season out 2-6 in their last 8.

Alex Smith is getting A LOT OF CREDIT for an easy start to last season and beast mode play by the defense for the first half of the season.

AS did play great in the playoff game (for the first half that is).

Btw I am definitely not an AS fan but agree that he is our best option then and now to win now. I do very much want the Chiefs to use a first round pick on a QB and develop them properly, this is my wish as a fan.

The unknown possibly of draft picks are a lot like lottery tickets to people.

If given the choice between 10 dollar scratch tickets and a 20 dollar bill, I think most people would pick the lottery tickets because of their unknown potential. Yet the second they has scratched them off and realize they have a two dollar winner and a free ticket, they regret passing up the sure thing.

Alex Smith was the sure thing.

The picks we gave up for him were full of unlimited potential. Maybe they pan out, maybe they don't, but I'm not upset that the Chiefs have a legitimate signal caller under center. Smith is now a proven winner. I'm anxious to see how he fairs with the difficult schedule we face next year. If we make the playoffs again, I think the case should be closed for good.

The Niners would have been better off using those early picks on their perceived "weaknesses". CB and WR, taking other positions only if the player available is clearly better than anything else on the board. However, I guess that they kind of had little choice after the top 7 DBs already went well before their pick. Idiots should have used some to move up and grab Roby or something.

Nice post. All the words are spelled correctly and everything. You are agreeing with the poster who said Alex Smith wasn't a commodity and thinks Baalke has drafted well, but other than that it was a good post.

The Niners would have been better off using those early picks on their perceived "weaknesses". CB and WR, taking other positions only if the player available is clearly better than anything else on the board. However, I guess that they kind of had little choice after the top 7 DBs already went well before their pick. Idiots should have used some to move up and grab Roby or something.

The Niners would have been better off using those early picks on their perceived "weaknesses". CB and WR, taking other positions only if the player available is clearly better than anything else on the board. However, I guess that they kind of had little choice after the top 7 DBs already went well before their pick. Idiots should have used some to move up and grab Roby or something.